OAKLAND, Calif. – The bad news is that
Destiny Castro's (Talofofo, Guam/Notre Dame HS) date with history will have to wait.
However the good news is that the Chaminade University women's basketball team won its second straight game on the road Tuesday, a 69-55 win over Holy Names at Tobin Gymnasium.
Castro, who on Monday was named the Pacific West Conference Player of the Week, led the Silverswords with 16 points on the afternoon, giving her 1,264 in her career, falling just two shy of Lilia Maio's program record of 1,266. Although she was just 3-of-16 from the floor, the senior guard made all nine of her free throws and contributed in other facets with seven rebounds, six assists and two steals.
The Silverswords improved to 2-6 overall and 2-1 in the PacWest with their second consecutive win.
Also good news was that five other 'Swords helped the cause with eight or more points.
Ellyonna Bankofier (Happy Valley, Ore./Clackamas) contributed 13, making 6-of-9 from the floor while
Arianna Blowe (Monument, Colo./Lewis-Palmer) added 11 along with four boards.
Others included
Breann Nueku (Honolulu/Clark College/Kamehameha-Kapalama HS) and
Grace Underhill (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park-River Forest) with nine points each while
Cheyenne Ardona (Mililani, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Mililani) added eight points, five boards and two blocked shots.
Amaya Ervin led the Hawks (0-7, 0-3 PacWest) with 12 points.
Chaminade shot 37.7 percent (23-of-61) from the floor and made a season-high seven 3-pointers with Nueku and Underhill making two each. Although they were slightly out-rebounded, 38-36, the 'Swords forced 22 Hawks turnovers and converted those into 25 points.
HNU had brief leads early in the first quarter but Castro's free throw broke an 8-8 tie, putting the 'Swords up for good. A 13-3 quarter-ending run capped by Bankofier's 3-pointer gave them a 21-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Castro had seven points in the quarter alone. But despite being held scoreless in the second, others picked up the slack in the scoring ledger. Underhill had four points in the frame while Bankofier and Blow both scored buckets. Nueku also buried a triple to beat the shot clock late in the quarter. CUH's defense, meanwhile, held HNU to just 18.8 percent shooting (3-of-16) in the quarter to hold a 32-20 halftime lead.
Chaminade came out on fire to start the second half with Nueku, Ardona and Blowe hitting shots on consecutive possession to put them up 39-20 just over a minute gone, forcing a Hawks timeout.
Holy Names responded out of the timeout with an 8-0 run of its own but the 'Swords were able to maintain their double-digit lead for the remainder of the game.
Down by 17 in the final quarter, the Hawks got a 10-0 run in a span of just 37 seconds to pull within 60-50 with 3:22 remaining but Bankofier's driving layup off a Castro dish got the Silverswords back on track.
Castro all but sealed the game on Chaminade's next offensive possession with a driving layup of her own, her first bucket since 28 seconds left in the first quarter.
The 'Swords had 14 assists to Holy Names' four and made 16-of-21 shots from the line for a 76.2 percent clip. The Hawks shot just 34.9 (22-of-63) from the floor and made just two 3-pointers and were 9-of-15 from the charity stripe.
The Silverswords' road trip continues Thursday at Notre Dame de Namur.
